Auto replenishment
Feb 5, 2026 by Dihan Stoltz · 8 min read
If you're a Takealot seller, you know that Black Friday can make or break your year. But here's the truth: massive sales days don't happen by accident. They're the result of strategic planning, smart tools, and precise execution. In this case study, we're pulling back the curtain on how one of our clients achieved R200,000 in sales in a single Black Friday using TSeller's suite of tools. Even better, they did it while maintaining a healthy 20% gross profit margin. Let's break down exactly how they did it—so you can replicate these results for your own store.
The Challenge: 60 Days Before Black Friday
Rewind to September, two months before the big day. Our client was facing three critical challenges that plague most Takealot sellers during peak season.
Stock Management Chaos
Running out of stock in the Distribution Center means losing thousands in potential sales to competitors. When you're out, you're out—and your competitors are capturing the demand you worked hard to create.
Promotion Overload
During Black Friday, Takealot runs multiple promotional events: Clearance Sales, Blue Dot Sales, Daily Deals, and more. Which ones should you enter? How do you decide which promotions will actually drive sales versus just eroding your margins?
Profitability Uncertainty
It's easy to discount products and generate revenue. The hard part? Making sure you're actually profitable after all fees, discounts, and costs are accounted for. Many sellers chase volume and end up with losses instead of profits. These aren't unique problems—they're universal challenges that every serious Takealot seller faces. The difference is in how you solve them.
The Solution: Three TSeller Tools That Changed Everything
Our client leveraged three powerful TSeller features to transform their Black Friday preparation from chaotic to strategic. Each tool addressed a specific challenge and worked together to create a comprehensive success system.
Tool #1: Auto Replenishment—Never Miss a Sale Again
Most sellers manually check stock levels SKU by SKU. It's time-consuming, error-prone, and impossible to scale when you're managing dozens or hundreds of products. Our client used TSeller's Auto Replenishment feature to completely automate their stock management.
How It Works
Real-time visibility: Login on web or mobile to instantly see stock levels across all DCs. Smart notifications: Get alerted the moment any SKU runs low. Bulk shipment creation: Identify imbalanced DCs and create once-off bulk shipments in minutes.
The Result
They spotted low stock in several DCs, used Auto Replenishment to calculate exactly how many units of each SKU to send, imported the data directly into Takealot, and ensured they had sufficient stock across all locations before Black Friday even started.
Tool #2: Promotion Application & Custom Ad Creatives
Here's where most sellers waste hours of valuable time. Applying to multiple promotions with 35-40 SKUs manually is tedious and prone to errors. Our client took a different approach.
The Process
Selected products for the Blue Dot promotion (Takealot's flagship Black Friday event). Applied a 15% discount across all selected products using TSeller's bulk action feature. Exported the file and imported it directly into Takealot. Time investment: Less than 15 minutes for 35-40 SKUs. Compare that to manually configuring each SKU individually on Takealot's platform—which could take hours.
Data-Driven Decision Making
TSeller tracked which sales came from specific promotions. Over their last three promotional events, they generated around R400,000 in sales and could see exactly which products performed well in promotions versus which ones didn't. This data-driven approach meant they could confidently enter the right products into Black Friday promotions, knowing they had historical evidence of success.
Tool #3: Profitability Analytics—The Difference Between Revenue and Profit
This is the tool that saved our client from disaster. Here's the trap many sellers fall into: they see R200,000 in Black Friday revenue and celebrate, without realizing they actually lost money after accounting for Takealot fees, uptake success fees, promotional discounts, and product costs.
How Profitability Analytics Works
TSeller's Profitability Analytics automatically pulls all costs directly from Takealot, calculates the impact of the 15% promotional discount, and shows the actual profit margin for each SKU before entering the promotion. The critical question: After all fees and discounts, are we still profitable?
The Decision Framework
If yes, they entered the product into the promotion. If no, they excluded it—no matter how tempting it was to chase volume. The result: R200,000 in revenue with a 20% gross profit margin. Without this analysis, they could have easily sold the same volume at a loss.
Black Friday Day: The Results Roll In
The morning started slow. Sales trickled in, and by midday they were at around R70,000. By 4-5 PM, they'd hit R100,000—respectable, but not the breakthrough they'd hoped for. Then something shifted.
The Evening Surge
From 6 PM onwards, they generated another R100,000, pushing them over the R200,000 mark and setting a record-breaking day for this client. This surge validated every hour of preparation they'd invested over the previous 60 days.
The Real Timeline: Preparation Takes Time
Here's what many sellers don't understand: you can't prepare for Black Friday in a week, or even in a few days. Success requires weeks of strategic planning.
The 60-Day Strategy
Our client invested 60 days in stock planning and replenishment, promotion selection and application, profitability analysis, and testing and optimization. Crucially, they used the right tools to make that preparation as efficient as possible.
What Would Have Happened Without TSeller?
Let's be honest: without TSeller, this client likely would have faced significant challenges that would have dramatically impacted their results.
The Alternative Reality
They would have missed stockouts and lost sales to competitors, failed to enter promotions or entered the wrong ones, miscalculated profitability and potentially lost money despite high revenue, and generated maybe R80,000 instead of R200,000. The tools don't just save time—they fundamentally change what's possible for your business.
Key Takeaways for Your Next Black Friday
Success on Black Friday requires three critical elements that work together to create breakthrough results.
Start Early
60 days of preparation is the minimum for peak season success. Use that time to analyze historical data, optimize your product portfolio, ensure adequate stock levels, and test your promotional strategy.
Use the Right Tools
Manual processes can't scale during peak demand. Automation isn't optional—it's essential. TSeller's suite of tools handles inventory management, promotion application, and profitability analytics so you can focus on strategy.
Protect Your Margins
Revenue without profit is vanity. Always calculate your true profitability after all fees and discounts. Be willing to exclude products from promotions if they won't be profitable. Remember: a smaller number of profitable sales beats a larger number of loss-making sales every time.
Conclusion
We manage stores generating millions of rands in sales every month. These tools weren't built in a vacuum—they were developed from firsthand experience solving the exact problems you face as a Takealot seller. TSeller makes it simple to manage inventory intelligently, enter promotions efficiently, and maintain profitability at scale. This client's R200,000 Black Friday wasn't luck—it was the result of strategic planning, smart tools, and disciplined execution. The same tools that powered their success are available to you today. Start your 14-day free trial and see how TSeller can transform your business. Available on web, iOS, and Android.
